Game 72: Win

Mets 6 Reds 2

After a frustrating game the night before, the Mets came back and dominated the Reds in the daytime.

David Wright hit two bombs, one to left field and one to right field. With all the taters he’s been hitting lately, you’d think he’d have at least twenty by now … maybe someone over at the Elias Sports Bureau forgot to count a few …

Pedro wasn’t awful, but still not quite himself on his way to his seventh win. He struggled with the ability to throw strikes early in the game, but it might have been more because of the home plate umpire than Pedro, as there looked to be a number of very close balls called.

Notes

Julio Franco became the oldest MLB player to hit a ground-rule double. He also became the oldest MLB player to steal third base. He is currently the oldest MLB player to hold an average of .350 or higher.

Xavier Nady, perhaps growing tired of swinging and missing at outside pitches, finally went the other way with a pitch, as both of his hits went to right field. Granted, both pitchers were middle-in, but at least he’s taking the correct approach on two-strike counts: wait on the ball, shorten your stroke, take an inside-out swing.

Chad Bradford did a great job in relief. I’m not sure how he’s getting away with throwing wiffle balls instead of the real thing, however; you’d think someone would notice. His third strike to Javier Valentin in the ninth looked like it was going to hit Valentin in the shoulder, then it just stopped and floated to the right and over the plate. Amazing.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.